1. Leviticus 18:21 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does it mean to “profane the name of your God?”

Leviticus 18:21 (ESV)

21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

This phrase occurs several times in the book of Leviticus (Leviticus 19:12; Leviticus 20:3; Leviticus 21:6). The verb profane (ḥll) means to make something unholy. Profaning the name of God occurs when his name is misused, or by doing something that God expressly disapproves of. Sexual immorality among the Israelites denigrates the name of God.